The Internal Revenue Service is postponing the date for filing gift tax and generation-skipping transfer tax returns and making payments until July 15, 2020, because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The IRS issued Notice 2020-20 on Friday, extending the relief it provided earlier this month on the tax-filing and payment dates for most other types of tax returns. The IRS also said the associated interest, additions to tax, and penalties for late filing or late payment will be suspended for the gift tax and generation-skipping transfer tax until July 15.
Wilfried Lemahieu is a full professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of KU Leuven, Belgium.
Liz Johnson, MS, FAAN, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CHCIO, RN-BC, is CIO, Acute Hospitals and Applied Clinical Informatics, at Tenet Healthcare. She is the chair of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Public Policy Steering Committee and chair of the CHIME Foundation.
Dave McGuire is an expert on cost segregation, fixed assets and depreciation law, and co-founder of Indianapolis-based McGuire Sponsel. He has reviewed real estate portfolios ranging in size from six-figure acquisition costs to billions of dollars in value and has provided cost segregation services for companies in a wide variety of industries. McGuire’s expertise in depreciation extends beyond the engineering portion of a study. He is often called on to consult in other areas including bonus depreciation and the effects of depreciation on complex transactions. He shares his expertise in techniques and practices through speaking engagements and workshops for industry groups and accounting firms. McGuire earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of Notre Dame with a concentration in structural design.
The relief is automatic and applies to any amounts due related to these types of returns. There’s no requirement to file for an extension and the three-month period between the original due date of April 15 and the new deadline of July 15 will be disregarded in terms of any interest, penalties or extra taxes for those who fail to file a Form 709 United States Gift and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Return by April 15.
Groups of tax and accounting professionals such as the American Institute of CPAs, the National Society of Accountants and the National Conference of CPA Practitioners have been pressing the IRS to provide additional forms of tax relief beyond the initial relief granted for tax payments from coronavirus victims.
